SATURDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 72, @Lindenwood 63
@Little Rock 89, Tennessee State 77
@UT Martin 91, Eastern Illinois 78
Southern Indiana 82, @SIUE 72
@Southeast Missouri 84, Tennessee Tech 77 (2OT)
MOREHEAD STATE 72, LINDENWOOD 63
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Alex Gross scored 18 points to lead four Eagles in double figures as the Morehead State men's basketball team swept its western OVC road trip with a 72-63 win at Lindenwood Saturday in its first trip to the new OVC opponent.
The Eagles (12-9, 5-3 OVC) led by six at the half and built as mich as an 18-point second half lead. MSU also shot 50 percent for the game.
Gross led the team in scoring and also had a career-high four blocked shots. Mark Freeman (14), Kalil Thomas (13) and Drew Thelwell (10) also contributed in the double-figure point department.
Morehead State did a great job defensively and rebounding. The Eagles own the battle of the boards 36-19 and held Lindenwood to just 3-of-16 for the the first part of the second half and 40 percent for the entire half. MSU meanwhile, drained nine three-pointers and had 15 assists on 26 buckets.
Defensively, MSU also held LU's top scorer, Chris Childs scoreless.
Gross was 8-of-10 from the field and also grabbed six boards. Thomas hit three triples, and Freeman canned a quartet of three balls.
LITTLE ROCK 89, TENNESSEE STATE 77
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Five Trojans finished in double figures as Little Rock built a 21-point second half and held off a late Tennessee State rally, handing the Tigers an 89-77 defeat at the Jack Stephens Center Saturday afternoon.
Little Rock was led once again by CJ White who scored a career-high 21 points, adding seven rebounds and five assists as White shot 7-of-13 from the floor. He was complemented by the other half of the 501 duo in DJ Smith, who added 18 points, six rebounds and four assists, going 5-of-7 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
DeAntoni Gordon had another strong showing, finishing with 14 points and five rebounds, followed by Ante Beljan notching a career-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting and three rebounds. Isaiah Palermo was the fifth Trojan to reach double figures, scoring 10 with three rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes off the bench.
After missing Thursday's game, Myron Gardner returned and came off the bench to finish with seven points, six rebounds and four assists as Little Rock shot 55.8% from the floor (29-of-52), its second-best shooting performance of the season. Little Rock struggled from three, making just 3-of-11 (27.3%), but was aided by a 28-of-37 performance at the free throw line, setting a season-high in free throws made.
Tennessee State finished the game shooting 41.2% from the floor (28-of-68), making 7-of-28 from three point range (25.0%), which was half the number of made threes in the first meeting between the two teams. The Tigers were efficient from the line as well, going 14-of-17 (82.4%).
Rebounding was nearly even with Tennessee State holding a slim 36-35 edge, but dominated the offensive glass 13-5, leading to an 11-5 edge in second chance points. But the Trojans used its fast tempo offense to control the fast break, outscoring the Tigers 29-13, while scoring 15 points off 12 Tiger turnovers.
Playing less than a month after Tennessee State handed the Trojans a 25-point loss in Nashville on New Year's Eve, the Tigers had the hot hand early, knocking down a pair of threes to build a 10-4 lead with 16 minutes left in the first half. But that sparked a 14-0 Little Rock run over the next six minutes as the Trojans went 6-of-7 from the floor while the Tigers missed eight-straight with Little Rock building an 18-10 lead at the midway point of the first half.
The Trojans and Tigers exchanged baskets for a five-minute stretch with Tennessee State trimming the deficit to five on a pair of occasions. But Little Rock responded with a 7-2 run, including a three from Jefferson, to build a 10 point lead at 31-21 at the 4:42 mark.
Little Rock kept Tennessee State at bay down the stretch in the first half, leading by as many as 12 at 39-27 with just under a minute to play before taking a 39-29 lead into the half. Little Rock shot 52% in the first half, led by 10 points from Smith and eight from Gordon, as the Trojans were a perfect 12-for-12 from the line.
Little Rock kept up its intensity early in the second half, building its lead to 14 on a pair of occasions, the second of which came on a layup from Gordon, pushing the advantage 47-33 with 17:35 remaining. A 7-2 run for Tennessee State pulled the Tigers to within nine at 49-40, but once again, the Trojans responded with a 9-0 run of its own, pushing the lead to 17 at 57-40 with 13:40 remaining.
The Trojans remained efficient in the second half, led by an offensive surge from Beljan. The freshman scored eight of 10 during a two-minute span, including an and-one with 9:36 remaining to push Little Rock's lead to 21 at 67-46.
Tennessee State answered back with a 14-2 run spanning less than 1:30, pulling to within nine at 69-60 with just under eight minutes remaining. Little Rock used a 5-0 run and a pair of key defensive stops, capped by an emphatic dunk by Gardner to push the lead back to 14 at 74-60 at the 5:59 mark.
Little Rock was then able to maintain its advantage down the stretch, making 11of-15 free throw attempts over the final six minutes and a big three in the corner from White at the 2:34 mark gave the Trojans the 17-point cushion at 80-63 with 3:23 to play. Palermo added a layup at the 1:06 mark for the final field goal of the game, helping Little Rock end its six-game skid.
The Trojans had one of their best halves of the year, going 16-of-27 from the floor (59.3%) and 16-of-25 from the free throw line. White led the way with 15 over the final 20 minutes while Beljan added 10 and Palermo and Smith both finished with 10.
Tennessee State was led by Jr. Clay's 33 points, 28 of which came in the second half on 10-of-16 shooting and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Dedric Boyd was the only other Tiger to finish in double figures, scoring 12.
UT MARTIN 91, EASTERN ILLINOIS 78
MARTIN, Tenn. - Chris Nix, a redshirt junior forward on the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team, muscled up for 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor as the Skyhawks claimed a 91-78 victory over Eastern Illinois at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Nix also added a season-high three blocks, three assists and three rebounds as he was one of five UT Martin double-digit scorers. The Skyhawks (13-8, 5-3 Ohio Valley Conference) led for 33:33 of clock time this afternoon but found themselves trailing by six points with just under 11 minutes to go. The 6-9, 220-pound Bellevue, Tenn. native then scored five of UT Martin’s next seven points and later scored five of nine Skyhawk points in crunch time – wrapping up his scoring run with 1:32 to go as UT Martin had the game in hand.
Parker Stewart tied Nix for the team lead in scoring with 19 points while adding a game-high eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. KJ Simon posted 16 points, a career-best six assists and six rebounds while Jordan Sears (15 points, season-high five assists) and Jalen Myers (10 points) aided a dynamic Skyhawk offensive effort that set a season-high for field goal percentage against a NCAA Division I opponent (.574) for the second straight game. Josh Endicott equaled a season-high with nine points while adding six rebounds in only 18 minutes for UT Martin, who leapt into a five-way tie for first place in the league standings.
The Panthers (7-14, 3-5 OVC) were led by Kinyon Hodges, who scored 19 of his game-high 25 points in the first half. Cameron Haffner provided 15 points off the bench for an Eastern Illinois squad that was limited to 22.7 percent shooting (5-of-22) from three-point range.
Simon got things started with a layup just 13 seconds into the game. Myers scored eight of UT Martin’s next 14 points before a Stewart three-pointer capped off a 10-2 run which gave the Skyhawks a 19-12 advantage at the 12:41 mark of the first half.
The Panthers trimmed their deficit to 27-24 but Sears canned a three-pointer on UT Martin’s next trip down the floor. Stewart soon sank a pair of treys in a 90-second span to extend the Skyhawk lead out to 40-31 with 5:22 to go before the halftime break.
Eastern Illinois concluded the opening half on a 12-6 run as UT Martin carried a 46-43 advantage into the locker room. Myers’ 10 points led the Skyhawks while Hodges’ 19 points topped all scorers at the half.
Nix scored the first four points of the second half to give UT Martin a 50-43 edge. A Nix free throw at the 16-minute mark kept the Skyhawk lead at two possessions (53-47) but the Panthers used a 15-3 run to take a 62-56 advantage.
A total of 32 seconds after Eastern Illinois took its biggest lead of the day, Simon soared for an offensive rebound and had a stickback layup to snap the momentum. The senior lefty then converted a pull-up jumper in the lane with 9:30 remaining to give UT Martin the lead (65-64) again.
After the Panthers evened the score at 68-all at the 6:52 mark, an Endicott three-pointer from the right corner ignited a massive 21-4 run that proved to be the difference. A Simon dunk in transition put the finishing touches on seven unanswered Skyhawk points and made the score 89-72 with 1:19 left to play – their biggest lead of the night going away.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 81, SIUE 72
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball had to make a defense stand in the last minute before closing out a 81-72 victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Saturday afternoon in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles go to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in the OVC, while the Cougars are 14-7, 5-3 OVC.
With the victory, USI is in a four-way tie for second in the OVC standings at 5-3 and a half-game out of first behind, pending the conclusion of the Tennessee Tech University-Southeast Missouri State University game, which was headed to a second overtime at press time. USI, currently, is tied at 5-3 with SIUE, University of Tennessee at Martin, and Morehead State University.
USI was dominating through the first 20 minutes of action, building a 38-22 lead by the intermission. Sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) led the charge with 14 points in the half, hitting five-of-eight with four three-pointers.
The Eagles, as a team, led by as many as 17 points during the first half (36-19) after shooting 45.2 percent for the half (14-31) and 53.3 percent from the beyond the arc (8-15).
SIUE made a brief run at USI to start the second half, cutting the margin to 11 points three times in the first eight minutes (42-31, 48-37, 50-39). USI methodically pushed the lead back to 18 points, 59-41, on a 9-2 spurt with 8:31 left on the clock. Senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) led the surge with six of the nine points.
USI appeared to be cruising until the last five minutes of the game when SIUE exploded on a 20-6 run to cut the Eagles' lead to six points, 67-61, with 2:16 to play. The Eagles regained the momentum with a 7-0 spurt to get the lead back to double-digits, 73-61, with 1:30 remaining on the clock.
The Cougars, however, had one more run at the Eagles to cut the margin to eight points, 75-67, before USI closed out the game at the free throw line for the 82-72 victory.
Swope led four players in double-digits for the Eagles with 23 points, adding nine points in the final 20 minutes. The sophomore guard was six-of-12 overall, four-of-seven from long range, and seven-of-12 from the line.
Senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) followed Swope with 17 points, reaching double-digits for the second game in a row. Polakovich finished with 16 points, all in the second half, and grabbed 23 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the year. The 23 rebounds also marked Polakovich's third 20-plus rebound game of the season.
USI graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points and was second on the team with eight rebounds.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 84, TENNESSEE TECH 77 (2OT)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Recap coming soon.